He Knows the Real You
Now when Jesus looked at him, He said, “You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas” (which is translated, A Stone).
—John 1:42
John’s Gospel tells us that when Andrew brought his brother Simon to Jesus, He looked at Simon. I find it interesting that the word looked used here could be translated “He saw right through him.”
Have you ever had someone look at you that way? Mothers seem to have this special ability. But Jesus did not have this ability in only a figurative way. He literally could look into a person’s soul, see what was going on, and know everything about him or her.
So Jesus looked at Simon and said, “Your name is Simon. But I am going to give you a new name. It’s Peter.” I wonder what Andrew and John were thinking when Jesus said this. They knew Simon. And if there was one thing Simon was not, it was a rock. The name “Simon” means “listener or hearer.” So Jesus was saying, “You are no longer going to be a listener or a hearer. You are going to become a rock.” Jesus had looked right through him and not only saw Simon for what he was, but saw him for what he could be.
In the same way, Jesus knows the real you—not the you that you have created for yourself, the persona or mask that you hide behind. Jesus knows the real you. He knows what you think about late at night. He knows what you dream about. He knows what troubles you. He knows what you hope for and what you wish for. And He knows what needs to happen in your life to make you the person He wants you to be.
For more relevant and biblical teaching from Pastor Greg Laurie, go to www.harvest.org.
Copyright © 2006 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Bible text from the New King James Version is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Attn: Bible Rights and Permissions, P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214-1000.